50 fishermen abducted from Sundarbans

Our Correspondent KHULNA, Oct 26: Armed pirates of Gama Bahini committed a mass dacoity in 40 to 45 fishing trawlers at Dublar Char area of Sundarbans Tuesday and looted fish, diesel and fishing nets worth about Tk 10 million. They also abducted 5 trawlers with fifty fishermen for ransom Tk. 5.0 million. Sources said that a group of armed dacoits numbering 20 to 25 boarding in a fishing trawler held the fishermen hostage at gunpoint, beat them up, and injured 4 to 5 of them by lethal weapons while they were fishing in the Bay of Bengal adjacent to Dublar char area. The pirates also abducted 50 fishermen with five trawlers and demanded Tk 0.1 million. The fishermen were threatened with death if they failed to fulfill their demand with in a week. The abducted fishermen hail from different villages in Barguna, Pirojpur and Bagerhat districts.